Sports ramblings…with a Yankees bias!

Some good, some bad — just keep it close…

Empty Bottle of Colon…

Well, it was only a matter of time until Bartolo Colon ended up on the disabled list. Of course, he is talking like he’ll be ready to take the mound as soon as his 15-day stint is finished, however, it shows how risky it is to depend upon Colon at this stage of his career regardless of how well he has pitched.

Howard Simmons/NY Daily News

As for replacements, the possible names include anybody not named Manny Banuelos or Dellin Betances so we’ll see who can step up and seize the opportunity. I am a bit curious to see what Carlos Silva can do.

Although Freddy Garcia pitched well in his last start, the pressure is still squarely on A.J. Burnett as he is the key to the season at this stage of the season. If he fails, the Yankees fail…no ifs, ands or buts. So far, there have been more high points than low ones but with A.J., you just never really know what you are going to get.

It was only a matter of time until the Boston Red Sox got hot as evidenced by their current winning streak. They seem to handle the Yankees with ease in their head-to-head match-ups, and right now, nobody seems to be able to figure them out. I know that they’ll lose their share of games, but right now, they are clearly the best team in the AL East. I only hope the Yankees can stay within striking distance until next month when GM Brian Cashman will hopefully be able to make some in-season upgrades.

Hits R Us…

Derek Jeter seems to be on cruise control lately in his march toward 3,000 hits. He hit another single in today’s game against the Cleveland Indians to move to 2,994. I wonder if he’ll start to slow down as he approaches 3,000, and how long he’ll sit at 2,999 before THE hit comes. I say that he presses and it takes a couple of games. At this point, the hit will probably come while the Yankees are on the road unless he hits a prolonged slump.

Ron Antonelli/NY Daily News

The Battle of Texas…or Florida…

As crazy as it sounded when I first heard it, the re-alignment of major league baseball makes sense. Putting either the Houston Astros or the Florida Marlins into the AL would balance the leagues and would create an additional in-state rivalry for either the Texas Rangers or the Tampa Bay Rays. I also like the elimination of the divisions, with the top 5 finishers advancing to the play-offs. I do not like the current system that could prevent a non-division winner from advancing to the play-offs, when a division-winning team with an inferior record gets in.

AP Photo

‘Hey Butter, Butter, Butter’…

This past weekend, I was in Montgomery, Alabama and attended a minor league baseball game between the Southern League’s Montgomery Biscuits and Jacksonville Suns. I was impressed with Riverwalk Stadium which was built on the site of a former Confederate prison which held Yankee soldiers. I’ve always appreciated the intimacy of Coors Field, and Riverwalk Stadium gave me that same type of feeling albeit on a smaller scale. It was visually appealing, and I like the way that the city of Montgomery has started to revitalize its downtown warehouse district.

I lived in Montgomery back in the early 80’s. In those days, the minor league team was the now defunct Montgomery Rebels. One of the Rebels’ rivals was the Orlando Twins, which, ironically, is now the Biscuits franchise. The Biscuits are a farm team for the Tampa Bay Rays and of course it is funny to think that David Price and Evan Longoria used to be Biscuits. I seriously thought about buying a Longoria t-shirt with the Biscuits emblem, but opted for a Biscuits cap instead (which has the Rays logo on the back).

Who said it was a Cowboys town…

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks for their first ever NBA Championship! I was a Mavs fan back when I lived in Dallas, but that was a long time ago. I have since moved on to the aging, past-their-prime Los Angeles Lakers. ;) Nevertheless, it was still fun to see the Mavs win, especially since it came against the team that everyone thought was supposed to win (the D-Wade, King LeBron, Chris Bosh-led Miami Heat). Pardon me if I don’t root for the city of Dallas to follow up with a World Series win! A Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl would be okay…

Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images

–Scott

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1 Comment

That’s cool that you made it to a Bisciuts game. I would love to see a game there as well. While training down south, I attended a ton of Suns games in Jax, and they played Montgomery in the playoffs. Lots of good baseball in the Southern League!
–Mike
‘Minoring In Baseball’

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